Brazil and Her People of To-day / An Account of the Customs, Characteristics, Amusements, History and Advancement of the Brazilians, and the Development and Resources of Their Country

by Nevin O. Winter

The most valuable article of commerce at the present time is the Ilex Paraguayensis, from which the herb maté, or Paraguay tea, is made. Brazil is a great producer of this tea as well as coffee. From this maté is brewed a beverage that is used by twenty million or more of South Americans, for one will see its disciples in Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, Chile and Argentina, and probably other countries as well. The early Jesuit missionaries were the first discoverers of the virtue of this plant, when they found the Indians chewed it, and by doing so were able to undergo great hardships with very little solid food. These fathers experimented with the shrub, or rather tree, and instructed the Indians in its cultivation. At a later time immense forests were discovered, and it is from them that the principal crop is now obtained.

The state of Paraná produces more of this preparation than any other country, and several million dollars’ worth of it are shipped each year to the other states and foreign countries. Its production has been the source of wealth to not a few in that state, for the yerbales, as the plantations are called, have proven very profitable. It is made from the leaves of a tree that is generally about the size of an orange tree, but will sometimes grow to a height of twenty-five feet, and with a trunk two, and even three feet, in circumference. One tree will oftentimes yield ninety pounds of the prepared herb. As the plantations are generally remote, the gatherers go together in their long trips across country. The season begins in December, and lasts for a number of months. Firing, and in some places, the picking, drying and packing were all formerly done on the grounds, but now machinery has been installed for the different processes of preparing it for the market. By the old process the maté gatherers cleared off a space of ground, and then beat it down very hard. The freshly cut stems and leaves were first placed in the centre and a fire built around it; then placed on poles with a fire underneath. Drying the leaves two or three days reduced them to a dry powder, and they were then packed in bags made ready to be taken back to the markets. Large copper pans placed over a slow fire now take the place of this primitive process.

A number of scientists claim high medicinal qualities for the beverage. They say that it has more stimulating and tonic effects than the common tea, with absolutely none of the bad or unpleasant effects. Instead of keeping the user awake, for instance, it is claimed that the user is never troubled with insomnia. It can be made and used the same as any tea, but it is commonly taken from the cuya, and drawn up through the bombilla. The cuya is a small bowl or gourd, with a little opening through which the maté is put in. Hot water is then poured over, and a little sugar added. The bombilla is a small pipe, with a strainer on the end, through which the beverage is sipped. Some of these cuyas and bombillas are very elaborate and made of pure silver. Hot water and another lump of sugar must be added every few minutes to keep it palatable. It is a very common sight to see the natives sitting outside their homes sipping this favourite drink of theirs, its use oftentimes supplanting the stronger intoxicants. Some hotels and restaurants serve it, and many foreigners become as fond of maté as those who were born in the country, and its use is being introduced in a small way in Europe.

As the vessel proceeds farther south it stops at Florianapolis, capital of the state of Santa Catharina. The coast of this state is, perhaps, the most beautiful of all the Brazilian states, excepting that of Rio de Janeiro. The maritime range rises very abruptly to a great height, with only a very narrow strip between it and the sea. There are several good harbours. Florianapolis lies on an island, about five miles from the mainland which the city faces. It makes a beautiful picture. Where Rio is grand, there is a softness about this scene that also appeals to the poetic side of nature. Back of the city rises the background of hills, green with semi-tropical verdure, which reach a height of three thousand feet. The entire island is almost a garden of beauty with its variegated hues of shrubs and flowers, and the driveways which are overhung with trees and vines. It is not as large as Curytiba, but is more important in a commercial sense than that neighbouring capital, because it is a shipping port at which several vessels call each week.

The state of Santa Catharina is somewhat similar to Paraná, although not so large. The plateaus are devoted to stock raising, of which horses and mules form a large part. The majority of the small but tough and wiry mules used in the states farther north come from this state. Some tobacco, sugar and dairy products are also exported, and fruit is now being cultivated on a much larger scale than formerly. A number of German colonies are found in this state, and some of them are so pronouncedly Teutonic that the Portuguese tongue is scarcely understood. This shows not only in the architecture of these towns, but also in the dress and manners of the inhabitants, although the greater part of the German element has lived here for a long time. Joinville, Blumenau and Brusque are three of these distinctly German settlements. It is a question whether they have advanced faster than the native Brazilians. At least it is certain that they have not kept pace with the Fatherland, probably because there has been no continued influx of new blood into the settlements.

Leaving Florianapolis the vessel skirts along the shores of Santa Catharina, and for a long distance along the low coast of the state of Rio Grande do Sul, until the port of the same name, the most southerly port of the republic, is reached. The coast line of this state is peculiar in that it consists of lakes or lagoons, which are separated from the sea by comparatively narrow strips of land. The principal lake, called Lagoa dos Patos (Ducks Lake), is one hundred and fifty miles long and from twenty to thirty miles wide, and has only one narrow channel connecting it with the ocean, that at Rio Grande do Sul, at its southerly extremity. The lake is not very deep, but a twelve foot channel has been dredged to Pelotas, and a ten foot channel has been completed almost to Porto Alegre. At the entrance there are sandbars which make it impossible for deep draught vessels to enter, but the coasting boats proceed up to the furthermost extremity, at which is located the largest city of the state, Porto Alegre, the “merry port.”

The government is now engaged in the work of dredging a channel to a depth of ten meters (thirty-two and eight-tenths feet) over this bar which, with the port works planned, will give Rio Grande do Sul one of the best harbours on the Brazilian coast, and will probably make it the chief city south of São Paulo. The cost of this improvement will be about $10,000,000 in gold, for which a special tax of two per cent. on all goods coming into the state through this channel has been levied. The port works will cost almost an equal sum, and a concession has been granted to a company which agrees to make this improvement. The plan adopted is to construct two parallel dikes, or jetties, from the mouth of the river into the new harbour, and there construct basins which will be large enough to manœuvre the largest vessels afloat. Rubble stones and immense cement blocks will be used for this work, and it is estimated that at least four million tons of this material will be required. At least ten million cubic yards will have to be dredged for the channel and basins. The sand and clay brought up by the dredges will be deposited inside the revetments in order to fill up the low land. This improvement was formally begun December 11th, 1907, and the preliminary work has been done, so that the main part of the undertaking is now progressing very satisfactorily. An American engineer is in charge of the work, but the contract is held by a French company. It is expected that this much needed improvement, which has been under consideration for a quarter of a century, will be completed in 1913. This will revolutionize this port and make Rio Grande do Sul a port of call for European and American steamers. It will not only give an easy outlet to Southern Brazil, but a much shorter one for Northern Uruguay and a part of Argentina.

Rio Grande do Sul of to-day is a thrifty little city of twenty-five thousand inhabitants, with pretty parks and narrow streets, but nothing outside of its shipping to attract much attention to itself. There are schools, colleges and churches, charitable institutions and a library, all of which are excellent in themselves. It is about eight hundred miles from Rio harbour. A decade hence it will be a much more important and a much larger city than at present. A few miles farther up the lake is the larger town of Pelotas, which is the centre of the beef curing establishments, of which there are so many along this lake. In addition to the beef consumed locally these xarqueados prepare and export more than $6,000,000 worth of this dried and salted meat annually.

The southern part of Rio Grande do Sul is composed of prairie lands, called campos, which comprise perhaps two-thirds of the area of this state, which is twice as large as the state of New York. These plains are covered with pasture, and contain only a little timber along the streams. These great campos are divided up into estancias or fazendas, which are frequently many thousands of acres in extent. Natural boundaries, such as streams and ridges, have generally been chosen, which not only serve as natural fences, but settle absolutely all questions of ownership. The house of the estanciero is generally situated on an elevation which overlooks the estate, and around it are grouped the huts of the labourers. There is, as a rule, no cultivation of the soil except to supply the wants of those dwelling on the estate. The entire attention is devoted to the raising of cattle, of which there are more than four million in the state. A few raise mules to supply the cities. The Rio Grandense, as the inhabitant is called, is, first of all, a ranchman.

In the spring, men, called the tropeiros, visit all the estancias, and bargain for the cattle at so much a head for cash. They are then formed into great herds and driven overland to the xarqueados, which is the name given to the killing establishments of Brazil. In these establishments the salted and dried beef is prepared, which forms the principal meat supply of central and northern Brazil, where few cattle are raised.